Sprinkles
by Heero91
Summary: A collection of unconnected oneshots centred on relationships between Sasuke and Tenten exploring different AU's, themes and connections. Hope you enjoy. Requests welcome.
1. Fallout

Title; Fallout

Disclaimer; Nope I don't own any of the Naruto characters.

* * *

"I think I feel sick." I didn't but I couldn't help feeling as if it wasn't my duty to feel at least some disgust with myself at the moment and every other moment from now onwards.

"Why?" He didn't even bother to open his eyes, in fact there wasn't any movement from him except his bare chest's gentle rise and fall and the flicker of the moonlight on his pale skin. Somehow I got the feeling he didn't care all that much for my moral dilemma.

"You are kind of responsible for destroying the Leaf." Despite what I said though, the oft repeated chant of any of the old guard that remained, I leaned back down allowing my cheek to settle on his chest and draped a hand over his scared stomach.

"Is that what I did?" I shivered as a chill wind blew through the still open window and was slightly surprised as a strong arm wrapped around my shoulders pulling me just a little closer. I suppose he hadn't really, but the Uchiha had played a significant role in creating this new world when the Moon's eye plan went…off course.

"You took away our Chakra." It had been amazing for all of ten minutes when the seemingly invincible Madara had been reduced to nothing more than a mere man. Then the after effects began to strike. Law collapsed, treaties were abandoned and Kages were disposed of as if they were nothing more than ailing children. Tsunade was reduced to an elderly woman with a barely functioning liver, Garaa a sheltered boy suddenly absent his protections, the Raikage a one armed brute with a temper…few of us kept anything of what had made us ninjas.

Even Lee was crippled as the Chakra that made his superhuman training methods possible evaporated. He almost immediately done something to his back, training undeterred as usual. He couldn't seem to understand that without chakra all that boundless determination was a double edged sword. It was something we didn't even remotely understand as medical jutsu as we'd always relied upon it was now impossible.

The village was torn apart within months, first with the loss of small areas of land and then greater and greater as the barbarians and outlaws of Fire country realised how feeble we now were. Tai-jutsu focused Genin now completely outclassed the Clans leaders and heirs. Weapon specialists, the grittier ones, they became Gods. Neji took that somewhat badly.

"Would you like me to apologise Tenten?" He wouldn't, the tone in his voice made that completely certain. And in all honesty I wasn't sure I wanted that, in the end all he'd done was even the playing field for the world. It was an interesting answer to fighting the hatred and cycle of revenge, the exact opposite of Pein's actually. Naruto had clearly thought so.

"Why did you do it, Naruto gave his reasons but…" The blonde Hokage wanna be had put forward his opinion, that it was the absurd amount of power each village held in its hands that caused our problems, that so weakened we'd be forced to depend on one another, that another tyrant like Madara would no longer be possible without chakra.

It had been sort of sad to see him executed.

The Uchiha mumbled something under his breath and I asked him to repeat himself.

"I thought it would take away the memories." He spoke quietly. His eyes had opened for a second and I saw a flash of their mild crimson. Sharingan without chakra, without the gleam or fire. They'd been locked in that strange state since I'd run across him. A dead man's eyes, almost.

"Did it?" A hundred thousand lives tossed in the wind because he wanted to see if his photographic memory had an off switch.

"No." A man of dangerous wild whims that never worked out, better I supposed than being a woman of small plans that never succeeded. I ignored the chill of the night air and untangled myself from him and the sheets…now where had I thrown my pants.

"Here." He offered his outstretched hand grasping my weapon holster. I had to ignore the way the moonlight reflected off his scars making them look so much more…artistic, lines from some beautiful language I didn't know describing battles the pale warrior had only just survived.

"I don't remember taking this off?" I offered with a raised eyebrow reattaching it to my thigh…probably counter-productive given I still lacked pants but the jingle of the metal inside was comforting.

"You didn't." Returned the Uchiha standing and allowing the sheets to fall away, I tried not to blush.

"I kicked your sword underneath the bed I think." I offered back to him, shrugging as he threw me an annoyed look. So maybe I could have been more respectful of his property but I'd had much more important things on my mind when I'd disarmed him…like that thing he did with his tongue.

As I plucked up my shirt I felt the rogue ninja wrap his arms around my waist, something hard and familiar rubbed my lower back as I returned to full height.

"You're presumptuous." I whispered as evenly as I could as his tongue flickered out to tickle the flesh of my shoulder, then lightly suckle and…

"You're in denial." He growled back lips climbing higher to reach my neck, his fingers trailing my stomach.

"Why me?" I asked as his rough fingers trailed over a scar on my forearm. I couldn't remember where I'd gotten it, brought down to normal battles had become much more chaotic. I'd focused on two bandits to my right and an attack had come from the left, a dirty shuriken imbedding itself in my arm. I'd cleaned it well enough and escaped an infection but none of us were familiar with stitching or manual healing back then and patching it up had been awkward. It was an ugly mark.

"Ninja seek ninja." He answered back plainly allowing me to twist in his embrace. I decided to not look down.

"Ninja also kill ninja." And I should kill him, even if I found him somewhat sympathetic, he'd destroyed my village, my former livelihood and I knew he was still dangerous. Still another voice brought up the counter argument.

What had I left in the ruins of Konoha now. I hadn't any friends left, not really. There weren't any new Genin being produced, rather the youth attached to the village remains were being used differently. Sometimes spies or geisha but I suspected there may have been more going on behind closed doors, things I didn't want to know about to the orphans from the fall. New Konoha was becoming less like its inspiration of a noble Ninja empire and much more like a petty criminal organisation. We took jobs as enforcers now not guards, carried out beatings and lynching's rather than neat assassinations, smuggled booze and murderers rather than medicine and refugees. Increasingly we were little more than thugs with fancy armaments and useless training it seemed.

"I couldn't image going any other way." He remarked drawing me from my musings and earning a laugh. I wasn't even sure why, maybe because I agreed with the sentiment or because I thought that if I did want an actual ninja to kill me…there wasn't that many other options these days.

"Okay, so what is it you want with me…besides the obvious?" I tried, thumbing a scar of his own. The old scar tissue ran about four inches diagonally across his chest, probably a knife's work. A larger weapon wouldn't have been so kind to the skin.

"There's still work available for those capable, up north I hear." He answered raising a hand up to cover my own and entwining our rough fingers. I finally glanced down and realised he had in fact slipped into a pair of pants at some point.

"Business partners then?" Leave Konoha's ruins, start fresh in the north absent the constant reminders of what had been lost. The trill of just what life might be like with this man at my side was tempting. Would we work together for some time and part ways when it was convenient? Bond deeply as friends? Kill one another at some point over some dispute?

He tilted my chin up and caught my lips in a scalding kiss. His lips were chapped and he tasted of some form of booze I couldn't quite place, something local I guessed. The gesture was less forceful than it had been before though, when we'd been absorbed in our passions. It almost felt like a question.

"Okay not business partners as such." I chuckled as he pulled away smirking and began to gather his clothing up again. I settled myself on the side of the bed crossing one leg over the other and offering him what I hoped was a seductive if slightly confused expression.

"Don't tell me this was a want what you can't have thing?" I asked as he began his search beneath the bed for his sword. Apparently he really had lost all interest once I'd shown my own…I thought that was supposed to be some urban legend about romance.

"It's went quiet below us. Not to go out on a limb, but one of us is probably the target of whatever's coming." He remarked pulling his weapon free and sliding it into his belt. I moved on instinct snatching up my own remaining gear. I guess the Uchiha had improved his natural senses more travelling alone than I had working in large cell squads.

"How's your aim?" He asked as I pulled my cloak over my shoulders, I elbowed him in the ribs and offered him a dry look.

"I'll pretend you didn't ask that." I threw over my shoulder leading the way. I could hear the scuffle of footsteps now, the clack as a rushed amateur knocked his weapon against one of the tight corners of the small inn.

Time to test the new arrangement.

* * *

Just a little oneshot that's been wasting space on my hard drive. Naturally the background if you haven't guessed it was that during the final battle Naruto aided by Sasuke used Madara and Obito's frame work to cut off the entire worlds access to chakra bringing everyone down to normal. His answer to the hatred being to take away the ninja world's most potent weapons.

R&R


	2. Crashing

Title; Crashing

Disclaimer; Nope I don't own any of the Naruto characters.

* * *

They weren't an ordinary couple I thought, no not ordinary in any sense.

The flat they shared seemed a testament to that much. I'd been with Sasuke and Naruto when they'd stumbled across a market vendor selling what was advertised as 'Real Ninja Weapons' and spent most of their money on cheap looking katanas.

Tenten took that childish urge to buy a shiny weapon and ran with it like the Flash on steroids. There didn't seem to be a wall or surface that went without the loving touch of some macabre wicked blade or any other multitude of exotic weapon…and the occasional piece of laundry, it was kind of disconcerting to see a broadsword topped with a stray abandoned bra.

"How long will the repairs take?" questioned the dark Uchiha taking a seat across from me and sliding a cup of coffee to me as he nestled his own protectively. A shout distracted me momentarily as Tenten apparently was killed. The brunette, her hair tied up in messy buns, was strewn across the couch clad only in lounge pants and an off white bra with what I was certain was ketchup stains. She hurled insults at the glowing TV screen, none of which attracted her partners attention or even so much as a glance.

"About a week I think, if it's any longer I can ask Naruto or…" he thankfully shushed me before I could go on. As strange as crashing with Sasuke and Tenten would be I imagined staying with Naruto or heaven help me Lee would be much more awkward.

"You can stay as long as you need." At the time I was genuinely grateful for the offer, even with all the awkwardness that was sure to come with my stay.

* * *

I first became convinced my friends were secretly psychotic the next day as I unintentionally observed their morning ritual. It involved a lot more chaos and shouting than I would have thought a morning tradition could possibly have.

For a start I was woken first by the noise of an argument about when the alarm clock had been set and then fifteen minutes later as the pair…reconciled, rather loudly.

That was almost pleasant compared to the intensity of morning coffee. The clearly self-confident Tenten was again dressed casually showing off her ripped stomach muscles as she reclined half-dressed on one of the kitchen chairs but more unusually Sasuke was in a similar state glaring groggy eyed at the coffee machine as it did its vital work. I was pretty certain his t-shirt was inside out, and that it was unnecessary to wear a belt with sweatpants.

"How'd you sleep?" I asked cringing at the amount of pep I could hear in my own tone. Both zombies blinked back at me baffled it seemed by the question before almost simultaneously they growled back a 'fine'.

Coffee brought them back to themselves, and started a whole new level of strangeness. The Uchiha began on breakfast only after Tenten had commented that her wife would have it prepared soon and received a dark glance in turn. Then the mischievous brown eyes had flickered back to me.

"So seeing anyone these days Pinkie?" she asked leaning forward and offering me a fantastic view of her cleavage…which quite frankly I wished she'd stop doing, if I wanted my self-esteem thrashed I could've tried rooming with Hinata….or Temari…or maybe I should get some non-busty friends. I missed the look Sasuke threw his other half.

"Um no not really, too busy with work." My tone went a bit off course at the end as I mentioned work, Tenten had been laid off some five weeks ago and had still not managed to find another job. She didn't seem to be upset but I was the nervous type…and Tenten was the highly aggressive type as the bruises on Sasuke's exposed neck gave testament to.

"What about Lee, is he still writing those love letters?" I could feel my cheeks heat up and tossed the Uchiha's back a dirty look of my own. Those letters were supposed to be a secret between us and hence undisclosed to his crazy girlfriend. Wisely he moved across the room to busy himself in a cupboard.

"Lee's nice but um-" that's about as far as I got before I realised my mistake in starting gently. Tenten beamed clapping a hand on my shoulder raising herself up in one fluid motion. I'd like to say I reacted with more defiance than a deer caught in headlights…but that would have been a lie.

"I'll set us up a double date then." Announced the brunette stepping out of the kitchen in what turned out to be a search for her mobile phone, as much became apparent after she started shouting for Sasuke to tell her where it was.

"Thanks for that." The Uchiha grumbled after a brief shout of 'how the hell should I know' in regards to the phone. I blinked at him in confusion still feeling mildly shell shocked.

"What just happened Sasuke?" I asked my friend as he set our breakfast onto the table, patting my shoulder in an uncharacteristically comforting manner.

"Tenten is scheming…trust nothing and no one." He whispered solemnly before said woman returned speaking adamantly over the phone to her childhood friend, even muffled after passing through the speaker I could hear the excited man's voice whooping. Was it my imagination that added the evil gleam to the brunette's eyes, somehow I didn't think so.

"What have you made us accessories to Tenten?" asked the Uchiha with a feigned disinterest as he prodded his breakfast ideally.

"Oh don't be like that, we're just going to a play is all." There was a moment between the two. The kind you'd expect to see between two rival spies, one running a gambit on the other and the other weighing up the consequences to calling the first's bluff.

* * *

Lee turned up in a green tuxedo and Sasuke and Tenten…didn't. Both were instead waiting for us in the bar we'd arranged to go to afterwards…looking amused. I couldn't help feel at least Sasuke had betrayed me in some fashion despite his warning. Neither of them had even dressed up I noted as I awkwardly shimmied into the booth in my dress as Tenten and Lee disappeared to the bar.

"What happened?" I bit out snatching his bourbon away for a much needed drink…neither had mentioned the play we'd be seeing was to be directed and starred in by Lee's old mentor Gai…or that there would be audience participation.

"We got held up getting ready." He answered with a shrug. I gave him a pointed look before I indignantly pointed out neither of them had changed clothing since I'd seen them this afternoon.

"Well we sort of got distracted at the halfway nakedness part." He answered with a chuckle that bordered on a giggle. I raised an eyebrow at the inanely grinning man.

"You're drunk aren't you?" It wasn't fair, I went to Gai's play with Lee, he skipped it and had sex…if anyone deserved to be drunk it was me. I'd get on doing that right now.

More vodka and cranberries than I could count later, Lee had disappeared after a call from what I suspected was his mother and I was third wheel once again to the odd couple. The elder of the two was clearly holding up better as Sasuke had spilled at least half of his current drink and allowed his head to roll onto his girlfriend's shoulder.

It was weird to see, the Uchiha vulnerable and trusting like that but it did make me reconsider. Maybe there insane chemistry wasn't so bad.

"He's cute now but give him a minute and he'll start trying to hump my leg." Cracked Tenten throwing a look of false exasperation towards me…okay so insane was bad.

* * *

A bored pointless little oneshot to go with the first pointless. Hope you enjoyed.

R&R


	3. Does aren't my underwear Part 1

Title; Does aren't my underwear part 1

Disclaimer; Nope I don't own any of the Naruto characters.

* * *

Missions with low risk were always boring. Seduction missions were never fun. Mission's with Naruto were something of a base breaker on the fun or not fun scale but being stuck in his sexy Jutsu form dancing for older business men to catch glimmers of information made the blonde rather whiny and poor company...so in this case the blonde was no fun.

It was probably the accommodation that broke the camel's back though.

Posing as the down and out kind os bimbos that rogue ninja backers didn't need to worry about meant acting like exactly that. Leave lots of skin on display, order and drink the cheapest nastiest booze, always be biting and mean in everything you said to your friend, obviously the dancing and finally sharing a small single bedroom apartment with your other three teammates.

"Naruto move your damn knee or I swear I'll make your wedding night very fucking disappointing for all parties involved." I had meant it only half seriously, sort of a rough ninja joking kind of way. It came out entirely as rough threatening and I heard Hinata squeak from the other bed. I envied the other girl though, she was sharing with the petite Sakura and the med nin was a complete night owl. In fact I was beginning to doubt the woman slept at all.

I got lumped with Naruto as Hinata would likely die from blood loss if she did and the blonde would get himself suffocated if Sakura had to share with him. The pink haired woman popped back into the room following my outburst looking very much like a scolding mother crossed with a dominatrix...what I mean to is she looked angry and sort of creepy.

And alarmingly she held an ugly looking rod in one hand.

"Okay enough, therapy time." Sighed the miniature power house climbing onto her and Hinata's shared bed. I considered saying something smart but a scalding look reminded me that she was in fact in charge of this mission and not afraid to abuse that power. I sat up and glared at the blonde as his knee bumped against me.

"This is our talking stick, we'll each take a turn to let something off our chests and make a suggestion for how to improve things...an additional point, smart mouth and I'll shove this damn thing where the sun don't shine." Inspirational words to be certain from our team leader as she glared specifically at Naruto and I. Which was unfair, Hinata could very well start mouthing off too. I mean it was about as likely as Madara Uchiha and the First Hokage calling around for a pyjama party but still.

"Personally I feel each of you are weakening the mission. Hinata, you're being far to shy to garner any information. Tenten, you're threating far too many of the marks and getting unwanted attention and Naruto…you need to be less clingy, they close up when there's two of us." Naturally the woman seemed to only be worried about the mission. The professionalism must have come from her medical training…though where she had learned to pole dance like she did was a mystery onto itself.

"I suggest we work out some signals for tipping each other off if we go off track." It was weak but Sakura had been more occupied with the mission objectives than us and I supposed the lack of results was her primary cause of stress. She passed the rod to her left into the hands of the Hyuuga heiress.

Only Naruto was surprised when she muttered an apology, a general compliment and pushed the rod into my hands.

"Fine. Sakura you're being overbearing, no offence. I think the chains of command have fried most of your personality away leaving only a weird dominatrix workaholic pulling the strings. Hinata you're not as quiet as you think you are when you masturbate. Naruto, your sleep twisting and turning is by far more dangerous than your Taijutsu. Also stop being bitchy and or catty…it's annoying and profoundly weird." Despite the supposed safe place each of my comrades looked a different variation of offended. Well Hinata looked mortified but Sakura looked offended enough to count for both of them. I felt strangely satisfied and enjoyed my first real smile in over a fortnight.

"I suggest we remove Naruto's knees…relatively painlessly." I received three unamused expressions for the suggestion. Though oddly the Uzumaki seemed least offended at the suggestion.

"Fine, we should rotate the sleeping arrangements. Naruto and I are the biggest here we shouldn't be sharing." Hinata had me beat in the boobs department sure but I was still taller. I passed the rod to Naruto.

"I suggest we give up and head back to the village. We haven't gotten any new information in like two weeks." I blinked a little confused, after all this was Naruto taking the role of only sane man. Then I glanced at a guilty looking Sakura as Naruto passed her back the stick...were we in charge of the duration of this mission? Had Sakura kept us out here in a demented need to gain absolutely all information.

"I guess we can go back then…after we cover our tracks." Covering our tracks took most of the night and a lot of the next morning but it was worth it as we rolled back into Konoha and I settled into my bed absent the tangled mess of limbs that called itself Naruto.

* * *

I woke that morning dreading a summons from the Hokage, a residing of her previous agreeable position from the night before and a berating for my unit abandoning our mission before absolutely every piece of tangible information could be obtained, I feared this despite the fact she'd left to a summit just after I'd delivered my report. But at the same time there were other more pleasant expectations.

Clean starchy scarlet sheets for a start that spelled like…well nothing, just cool soapy plainness. Not that Hinata had been a bad bed-mate, relatively speaking, but the summer had been a scorching one and more and more I'd begun to pick out Hinata's at first subtle lavender scenting and associate it with the sweaty lumpy uncomfortable bed.

The ability to sleep late was another luxury I hoped to enjoy, only pulling myself from bed when my stomach became absolutely insistent I must sate it. And then it would be my kitchen I'd use for a properly prepared meal, not a cup of instant ramen and a soldier pill for flavouring.

I was awoken to a knocking just barely past sunrise and the powerful smell of pure lavender.

It took me longer than I would have liked to realise the bedroom was clearly not my own. The white and pale purple colourings with barely a hint of my own preferred ruby was glaringly obvious in hindsight. There was also the fact that I usually slept in a t-shirt, I most certainly hadn't stolen from Sasuke, not the beautiful and very expensive nightgown I was currently wearing. The final clue threw me into a tailspin.

"These things are fucking huge!" My mother always told me, Sakura some girls just bloom later than others. No shit. This seemed like a bit of a dramatic jump in size, but the fact that I had also seemed to have grown four or so inches and been moved and changed in the middle of the night became less important when compared to the fact that, if I was not mistaken, my boobs were bigger than Ino's now.

"Um lady Hinata…is everything alright?" a voice called drawing me away from my internal victory dance. I squeaked and reached for something to cover myself up with before my higher conscious pointed out that I'd never been the shy type and besides I was wearing an ankle length dress.

"Um, yeah…I'm fine." I answered the middle-aged woman, a Hyuuga oddly enough. Had I checked into a hotel last night instead of going home, I'd been pretty out of it…was there like an Hyuuga themed hotel in Konoha, I would like to think I'd have noticed something like that. My voice was different too I realised, higher and softer…and exactly like Hinata's…

"Are you sure lady Hinata…you look weary." Hinata's height, her voice, her boobs, in a room decorated with her colours, with Hyuuga servants calling me lady Hinata.

...I was in Hinata's body. I was in one of those god awful plays Ino liked so much.

My mind went into panic mode as I ushered the servant out. Was I stuck like this? Was Hinata off in my body doing god knows what…well probably being nice and non-intrusive but the principle still stood. Did I go see Tsunade for help…Tsunade who was away at a summit. I guess my best chance lay with Kakashi then…Kakashi who was serving on Tsunade's personal guard. That left my teammates for help. I'd grab Naruto, drag him to Sasuke's and…

...I suppose I could go to Sasuke's first…and hide in the bushes and figure out how to activate Hinata's Byakugan…

* * *

"Sas-" I shushed the blonde with a hand wave and returned to my coffee. I would handle this with my signature stoicism but that would be after I had my damn coffee. That was the rule and Naruto knew it, no crazy shit before I get my coffee.

Naruto continued to act bizarre, he was jittery and shaken and had taken to idly toying with a butter knife in an attempt to calm himself. Though the patterns and tricks the blonde was absentmindedly pulling off now were way beyond what I'd thought he was capable of…and what I was capable of too for that matter. I drained the last dregs of my coffee and fixed the blonde a look.

"Okay Naruto…why…just why." He shown up fifteen minutes ago, manic, in his underwear and clinging to me begging for help. Slightly less than consolingly I told the blonde to shut up, led him back inside and began making my coffee. Oddest of all he'd requested a cup too...and opted for the 'No.1 Kunoichi' cup traditially reserved for someone else.

"I'm not fucking Naruto, you idiot!" there was something vaguely familiar in the teeth clenched way the Uzumaki spat his words. Maybe as a testament to my need of a second cup of coffee my first though was to conclude I was dealing with Naruto's evil coffee drinking twin.

"Who are you then?" I asked with a shrug considering my next move. Where did one report this kind of thing too, should I just dump the blonde in front of the hospital…perhaps in a bassinet of some sort. The blonde's left brow tightened and his head tilted toward his right shoulder and I instinctively recognised it as the same look a certain foul mouthed brunette wore before she either hit me or kissed me after losing a sparing match.

"Tenten…please tell me you're going to hit me." A frown replaced his former expression and the blonde leaned back folding his arms and crossing his legs. The body language was rather more catty than I traditional saw from Naruto.

"How did this happen?" I asked pouring a fresh cup for each of us after I silenced my initial urge to hit the bottle until this made more sense. It probably wouldn't help.

"We finished the mission, got back to Konoha, Haruno ran off to do her reporting, I went home, fell asleep, woke up in a pig sty of an apartment with a damn penis. And now my new balls keep fucking itching." Naru-Ten then proceeded to scratch.

"Ten…that was far too much information." Far far too much that I would need to get to work on forgetting. A silence descended over us for a moment.

"What about your body, is Naruto in it?" Eyebrows rose and an expression of vague embarrassment dusted my friend's face. I pinned the girl in the boy's body a cool look. My own fault I supposed, she'd rushed over here without pants on she'd hardly done recon.

"Okay so step one we find my hot bod, step two some magic or Jutsu, step three profit…or my body back, whichever." I wasn't really listening to the brunette so she may have made more sense than what I picked out. A rather odd sight in my garden had monopolised my attention instead.

"Was Hinata on this mission with you?" I asked turning back to the brunette and cutting her off in her rant. From what I could tell after figuring out the workings of the body switch technology Tenten intended to use it in some blackmail scheme. Tenten's startled look lost some of its usual effect with Naruto's blue eyes instead of her own doe pair.

"Yeah, why?" returned the out of place woman.

"Well an oddly dressed Hinata Hyuuga's in my garden at the moment, if I'm not mistaken cursing under her breath and tapping the side of her head trying to activate her Byakugan." She managed to spot me and I thought I saw her mouth the word 'shit'.

"I guess her and Sakura switched too." Tenten had joined me popping Naruto's head over my left shoulder. I wondered if she might get upset if I asked her to keep out of my personal space while she was in my best friend's body. Hinata's eyes managed to widen some more at the no doubt shocking sight. Naruto in my kitchen this early in the morning, drinking coffee from a cup that read 'No.1 Kunoichi', wearing only his sleepwear…yeah that probably looked suspicious.

"…You should screw with her a little."

* * *

Slightly unsure of myself I waved back at Naruto as the blonde enthusiastically waved from the window. I probably should have been more worried about the vanished Uchiha but my mind was still trying to process the evidence before me.

Just as I'd reached the conclusion that- obviously- Naruto must have locked himself out and had to crash at Sasuke's the Uchiha in question reappeared. He closed the distance bounding across the garden so swiftly I thought for a second he was going to attack me.

Instead I was pulled into a tight embrace.

"Hina what are you doing here, did something happen? You know it's much too dangerous for us to meet now." I was only half released from the embrace, one of the dark youths arms remaining wrapped around my waist as he pulled back looking me over with unveiled concern. I felt the rough pads of his fingers trail across my temple brushing aside Hinata's bangs before he smiled, content that I was unhurt.

"…W-what?" My head was swimming as the reality of what the man before me was only hinting at so far began to unfurl, but at least I was getting my Hinata impression down at last.

"If you're Father catches you here again…it's still too early, I haven't convinced the council to support our marriage yet and I won't have that bastard putting a seal on you." Just about all the words stopped making sense after the word marriage passed through his lips. Sasuke wanted to marry me. I was Hinata right now. Sasuke wanted to marry Hinata…

...I was going to have to kill the Hyuuga heiress.

"I'm glad you've here though, the nights are so cold without you and my bed much too big. What do you say Hina, should we retire to the bedroom and reunite properly?" Maybe it was me or maybe it was Hinata's body but Sasuke's words had gained an odd echo quality, it went nicely with the black spots in my vision and the swirling colours and the sensation of falling falling falling.

* * *

"She dead?" Naruto's sapphire eyes were oddly bright with excitement despite the grim question. The feel of a steady pulse allowed me to answer in the negative.

"What'd you say to her anyway?" pondered my companion with a boyish pout that came off as ironically girly on Naruto's features. I hesitated to answer, which was a mistake since it alerted Tenten to the fact that whatever it had been was particularly scandalise.

"I invited her up to the bedroom." A small mean spirited chuckle was followed by indignation as the other ninja pinned me with a dirty look.

"Hang on, what were you going to do if she accepted. Bad bad Uchiha you have a…" the body renting brunette cut herself off mid berating and I smirked. Tenten had been the one that was reluctant to put our relationship into solid terms…I image my reputation as a murderous traitor and an unscrupulous connoisseur of morally loose women could have had something to do with that.

"I have a what, a training partner, an occasional bed mate, a girlfriend?" I pushed smirking as the other conscious occupant of the room glared.

"You have…a Tenten…yeah, and just cause I woke up today as a man doesn't mean you can go around sleeping with whoever you damn well…." She continued for about fifteen minutes complaining about the practical joke she'd put me up to. For my own part I was mostly confused, usually I enjoyed the kunoichi's antics but coming through the medium of Naruto's body they were…deeply disturbing.

"If that's all then I'm going to go get the other two…don't shave her eyebrows or anything while I'm gone." I wasn't actually worried, if Sakura were in her own body then Tenten very well may have done something along those lines or worse but the weapon mistress had a soft spot for the Hyuuga girl.

It shouldn't be too hard to find the other two. Regardless of who's body he was in I bet Naruto was still a late sleeper and the Hyuuga was notoriously shy, she wouldn't have left whichever room she awoke in and that's assuming she didn't just faint at the shock of her predicament.

* * *

Okay part one of my take on the body swapping cliché. Hope you enjoy.

R&R


	4. Hope Springs Eternal (Fallout sequel)

Disclaimer; Nope I don't own any of the Naruto characters.

Danish78- You'd be half right, I did sort of start this after Lucky Island's planned romantic false lead of SasuTen turned out to be surprisingly popular but I also kind of grew attached to the idea myself at the same time. Ino sort of got left out of the last one since as an experienced body-swapper I thought she'd handle it too well.

Hope springs eternal- sequel to Fallout

* * *

"Got you." His voice was far from soft whipping out after a ragged breath and I could feel the slick feel of his sweat slicked hand clamped over my wrist. The feel of the flat of his blade against my neck was another far away sensation as I tried to calm my own ragged breathing but I shifted my left hand insistently all the same, pressing just a little harder with the flat of my own blade under his arm pit. He laughed a little hoarsely.

"You'd make it maybe twenty minutes before you bled out." I grinned back as the Uchiha pulled away defeat clearly written on his face. I knew how he felt, a draw in a life or death fight was distinctly a loss. A hand was offered but I rejected it for pride's sake boosting myself back up, I began gathering my shuriken up as the Uchiha returned to the fire.

"Stew's done." The cheap pot was bubbling and a pleasant smell whiffed through our make shift camp as I took a seat inspecting my aging shuriken. Sasuke didn't comment as he fished around our packs for bowls and utensils.

"I need to restock." I commented more to myself than anything else as I flicked away another too damaged metal star. I had about a dozen I was still happy with and another dozen that I'd use, but only as an alternative to flinging rocks. The Uchiha passed me a bowl and I thanked him reflexively.

"They're not popular up here, it'll be expensive." Commented my partner blowing on his food hesitantly, it was pretty bland but the warmth was definitely nice. Weapons up here leaned more towards the rough rather than the skilful, if you couldn't use it when wearing a pair of thick gloves and have it double as a hunting tool then it was considered useless. Shuriken ran for almost ten times their cost as down south and the quality was much lower.

"Need to change my preference huh." Throwing knives were probably a good choice, easier to get a hold of, more durable and if I stayed with heavier variants they wouldn't be taken off course as easily by the northern winds.

"It's your choice." The swordsman was reaching for a second bowl and I could tell didn't really care for my dilemma. Stay with the projectile of my home or switch to something of my own, sure I used to use other weapons but after the loss of my weapon scrolls all I had carried with me had been shuriken and a tanto. I could see why the Uchiha didn't much care, I was splitting hairs.

Conversation died for a while as we contented ourselves with our meals and then grumbling began as I realised it was my turn to wash out the pot and bowls while the Uchiha sat by the fire.

"What were the reports like?" asked the Uchiha as I returned and struggled to get my gloves on over my numb fingers. I gave a light glare for the lack of sympathy.

"Still in bandit country I think, there was a death or two last month on the road and three times as many muggings." It was rough country up here but I had to remind myself that with the lack the ninja villages down south it was getting to be as bad if not worse there too.

"I'll take first watch if you set up the traps." Mine were better but his would work all the same on bandits…I hoped. Halfway through his process I found myself trailing after him inspecting his technique without comment. The Uchiha as ever took it in stride I doubted in no small part due to his ego.

I didn't regret my choice to go on first watch until half way through when it began to lightly snow. The Uchiha had pulled the sleeping gear as close as possible to the concave rock wall we'd made camp beside and remained nice and sheltered but out keeping watch I was beginning to resemble a snowman.

A couple of hours later I prodded the Uchiha a little roughly with my boot and after some slight grumbling about the state the camp fire was now in he took over watch and I descended into the still warm sleeping skins.

I dreamt of warmth and the sun, hot and bright like it used to be in Konoha, wild flowers, honey and fresh baked bread. It was the same kind of thing I always dreamed of when out camping with Sasuke who seemed to embody the opposite of those old fancies, the night, cold snow and ice and more than anything else steel and iron.

It was better than when we were in the towns. Whatever instinct kept the nightmares at bay when we were working or traveling it refused to act during our down time. I'd wake in the night sobbing from the visions that were half dreams and half memories shaky and distraught. Sometimes just as often it would be the Uchiha that fell into that state, clinging to me desperately and mumbling incoherently. I wondered who had it worse, me with my blurred dreams that borrowed from memories or him who couldn't help but remember his woes perfectly.

Bells woke me, jingling distantly from the real world and instinct had me moving before I was even halfway awake pulling my glove off with my teeth and grabbing a shuriken. Sasuke had risen stiffly in the cold and I watched his blade slide free reflecting the fire light.

The noise had sent the bandits into a panic though and the first entered the clearing in a wild charge. I threw the shuriken high aiming for the man's head but the wind took the flimsy metal off course, still the bandit had drew his axe up high to shield his face and Sasuke capitalised skipping in and drawing his blade along the man's stomach. His left hand had lashed out grabbing the hand axe just above the dying man's own grip and pulled it away in the same breath. The Uchiha didn't bother shouting a warning when he lobbed the weapon back to me as two others entered the clearing.

Sasuke moved to engage the assailant to our right and I turned my attention to the left one. I couldn't make out much past the fact that he was bearded and heavy set and so I opted for the easy kill. The axe whistled as it twisted through the air and then sunk into the man's collar with a dull thump. The man's last gargled breaths were lost in the howling winds but the death shout of Sasuke's prey was not.

"Vermin." I found myself muttering though the Uchiha looked more pensive about the exchange. I asked why.

"They probably didn't get into this line of work because there were a lot of alternatives. The collapse of the Ninja world meant trade with the south ended abruptly, maybe they steal to afford a warm meal, maybe it's not just for them but a child or a sick wife or sibling." It left a distinctly bad taste in my mouth but I knew there was a level of truth in there, I'd seen it first hand with Konoha's fall. When legitimate work vanished and starvation loomed people turned to base desperate solutions, men with strong arms became thieves and cut throats, women with decent figures and faces turned to the sex trade, both to keep from starving and to keep their children from starving.

"Why do that, humanise the enemy so much." Maybe it wasn't exactly healthy but dehumanising the enemy kept you sane when you had to kill as much as a ninja did, wrap yourself in cynicism and a belief that each and every enemy was a horror capable and guilty of any crime they could commit. It let you sleep, sometimes.

"Makes it harder, keeps me from slipping." Depressing thought, how far gone did you have to be to work like that. What kept most sane and functioning would drive this man off a slippery slope, one he'd been down before and only maddening thoughts kept him off it...or they took him further down the rabbit hole, further into madness so that he appeared to be sane again…

"You make my head hurt, you know that?" I had far fewer moral conundrums before partnering with the troublesome man. Konoha good, people who tried to cut my head off bad. Now nothing seemed solid, there was only murky grey. The Uchiha smirked at me.

"We should pack up, the blood will attract predators." I wanted to complain that I'd only gotten half the sleep he had but I was to tried to bemoan my bad luck…I'd do it later.

* * *

"This is it." The hotel looked nice, far nicer than anywhere we'd stayed in a long time. The sign that greeted us announced the hotels name semi obscured by a poor drawing of a mermaid, which apparently served to advertise the hotel's hot springs. I didn't think it made that much sense.

"You can handle the meet, I'll handle supplies." It was unnecessary to say really since it was how we always did it. Intimidating dark Sasuke met the clients and my careful hands held onto the money, it worked well so far. Sasuke attracted more customers with his presence and I got better prices with my cuteness.

The small town unfolded much the same way all the others did up here. Every road led to the town hall and everything you needed branched out from there. I'd figured out early on that it was better to pick up the necessities first; salt, spices, a replacement non-leaky pot or bowl. Once I stepped into the armoury or blacksmiths I tended to lose self-control a little, not that the Uchiha was much better. We'd fallen short of the cash for a hotel more than once in favour of a tempering for his katana or a particularly deadly looking set of shuriken or kunai for me.

This town's market stalls proved to be more lacking than most though and I found few spices that were reasonably expensive though there were a handful of fruits on offer that I quickly snatched up. A nice break from mouldy beard and whatever game we could catch.

A little while later and two failed attempts to ask for directions I found myself pushing open the heavy iron doors of a workshop more hesitant than excited. The locals were a little xenophobic it seemed.

A hammering echoed from a back room but the rough customer counter stood unmanned. I gave a shrug and began searching for the projectiles, most of what lined the walls were heavy axes and war hammers, interspersed by the occasional sword. Only a small shelf held something useable.

No shuriken in sight but throwing knives a little larger than the standard kunai were arranged in what I took to be a sign of quality. The first row were simple iron made and sharp only at the very tip, the second had a heftier feel had been treated to more time with a whetstone and came bearing a red cloth handle, the third were again better and marked by blue cloth around their handle and the forth were almost too heavy but razor sharp and wrapped in purple. A single leather pouch of six sat furthest up, they were balanced lighter than the purple ones and just as sharp with a simple but comfortable leather grip.

"What'd you want girlie?" a rumbling voice called to me. I suddenly realised with a start that the hammering had grown silent and the blacksmith had stepped out to greet me.

"Just browsing. How much are these?" I gestured to the knives en-mass wondering if by any chance they were near enough the same price. They didn't seem to be in much demand here, it was possible.

"Two thousand Nuu for the basic, four for the red, five for the blue, seven the purple and ten for the leather wrapped ones." The gruff man announced, crushing my dreams right into the dust. I pouted and picked up a pouch of the basic and red wrapped knives. Someday we'd have a reputation and get high paying clients and I'd be able to afford all the expensive knives I wanted, and lobster…I also wanted some lobster.

"These aren't for cookin' you know." Spat the blacksmith, though he accepted the cash all the same. That was better than some, two towns back I'd been laughed at up until I demonstrated how accurate I could throw…then I'd gotten a discount instead.

"Really, I was told I needed more iron in my diet though." It had sounded more cleaver in my head and I decided not to respond to his guff of laughter. I'd return to the hotel before adding the knives to my near empty holster, it never looked good rearranging your equipment in public.

Sasuke was waiting in the lobby when I returned making the other guests not to mention the staff distinctly nervous, well most of them. A blushing hostess stumbled away from him and back to her co-workers, she looked victorious up until I took a seat across from him.

"We're not in debt now are we?" commented the swordsman taking a sip of the steaming tea in front of him, the tone was playful though.

"Nah just broke, what's this?" A slip of paper rested near his cup and I was quick in snatching it up earning only a pout from my companion, he was used to my impatient ways by now.

"No need to ask how you chanced upon this." Free pass for us to get into a private hot spring room, it never amazed me what some of the girls in these places offered the dark man.

"The couples gone out to dinner, there's no rush but you probably should let them see your face." Our mission wouldn't start until tomorrow morning. A routine sort of job all we were to do was guide the soon to marry couple to the wives home town and back. Well maybe routine wasn't the best word for it, with only two of us we couldn't exactly function as a full guard detail.

"I don't mind waiting on the bath a little." I commented with a shrug reaching for the I hoped complimentary teapot for my own cup.

The couple arrived soon enough and I gathered pretty quickly why they'd need a protective detail. The husband to be was very slight of frame and had the look of a merchant to him, maybe not a pampered man but I doubt he'd even held a weapon before. His wife bore a pretty face accentuated by her long eye lashes and high cheek bones but she was a larger woman unsuited I'd imagine to fleeing cutthroats, thieves or worse.

More than anything else it was strange to see how openly affectionate the two were and the unabashed loving glances they threw one another. Ninja couples didn't work like that, they hid their affection with an unholy fervour and most relationships remained unspoken. Only clan heads really cared to marry and the reasons tended to be more political, individual ninja just didn't care.

They left us as quickly citing exhaustion but I imagined it was more likely we were making them somewhat uncomfortable.

"So bath time?" I suggested with a grin, there'd been a dull ache just under my shoulders the last few days that a nice soak and a soft bed would cure right up. We didn't bother stopping by our room, an advantage of owning so little was the fact that you could carry it with you without much trouble.

The hot spring room was sort of crammed but I supposed since we weren't paying we couldn't exactly bemoan that fact. I might have been a bit too hasty in my attempts to jump in the pool, earning a laugh from my companion as I tried to pull off a boot and almost stumbled in still dressed.

"I'll go find some towels then." Grunted the swordsman dropping his bags in a corner and stepping back out past the screen door, I watched the shadow slink away and wondered again how he managed to move so quietly.

The water burned in a good way as I descended into the pool with a sigh. I started working on my buns pulling them loose with a cringe, it had been too long since I'd washed my hair I guessed if the tangles were anything to go for.

I saw Sasuke's silhouette return towels bundled in his arms and considered hiding beneath the water, despite how childish an attempt to frighten him that way might be. The thought died as I saw a second silhouette appear behind the Uchiha and a struggle begin to unfold.

I was reaching for my weapon pouch just at the side of the pool when rough hands gripped me from behind. One hooked around my upper arms pulling them hard against my attacker's chest and another slipped around my neck aiming for a choke. I pushed my chin down tucking it in and blocking the choke uncomfortably as I aimed a kick backward hitting only air. I may have tried another but a closet the other side of the room slide open revealing a third man. As he stepped into range I swung a kick fainting for a middle kick before shifting at the last second to throw it higher, my muscles protested a little but my instep crashed hard into the man's chin sending him tumbling into the pool.

I still couldn't break the grip though, I'd never been strong at grappling and this man had the strength of an ox, as I struggled further I felt the man tug hard and a pain flared it my right shoulder as it was dislocated. Before I could form another plan the other man had pulled himself free and stood tall a knife raised.

There was a wet squelch as Sasuke's blade pried its way through the knife man's ribs forcing his eyes wide as he died in seconds. I was released and went for my weapons as the large man fumbled for a knife eying Sasuke with some fear.

"Get to the clients." He gave a low growl and I didn't protest. I could most definitely take the bear man…it just might be a bit tricky without my right arm so I'd let Sasuke do it. I pulled a bath robe over my shoulders and gripped two of my knives rushing into the corridor intent on the couples room.

We needed the money too much to screw this one up.

The couple were fine albeit a little shocked to see me storming in. It only took Sasuke a couple of minutes before he too arrived at the door gear slung over a shoulder but it felt like much longer in no small part thanks to my adrenaline rush.

"Nothing?" I shook my head in the negative accepting my pack with my good hand. The clients were still awaiting an explanation but neither Sasuke or I were rushing to offer one.

"What happened to you?" There was a deep red line crossing the pale man's neck and I immediately attributed it to wire in an attempted strangling. The Uchiha was still closed off though and pressed towards the connecting door in the room, it should have led to our own room. Sasuke pulled his weapon sheathe from his belt to prod the door open eyes trained hard for an expectant threat despite the fact they no longer held any doujutsu. I wondered oddly for a moment if he was aware of the habit.

"They got away. Ten…" I nodded and peaked into the room a knife held loose in my left hand. There weren't any assailants nor would there be given the room's barren nature but I spied threads of something beneath the bed. I crept closer taking care with each step.

"It's a fire trap…why's it in here?" the answer occurred a moment later though and I saw the same light enter Sasuke's eyes.

"Did you consider hiring anyone else for this job, talk to them even?" The Uchiha pressed not bothering to explain the situation anymore, I grabbed my clothing and stepped into what was to be our room to change. It was also possible that we'd just encroached on this group's territory.

I dressed swiftly crushing the voice in the back of my mind that called for furious retribution on these would be assassins for ruining my bath. I left my hair down uninterested in trying to tie it up before my shoulder was fixed.

"Can you?" I asked through gritted teeth the pain becoming more persistent as the rush of combat wore off. We settled into the unfamiliar twist on a familiar position as Sasuke carefully rotated my shoulder and I attempted to relax the limb, I preferred last time when it been Sasuke with this injury…that had been less painful. There was a pop and cool relief drove out the burning pain.

"I could kiss you for that." I grinned and he smirked before we remembered we weren't alone. I raised an eyebrow in silent question.

"They didn't contact anyone, but this is obviously a pride thing." Which meant it had been personal even before Sasuke had gutted two of their own, which left the other important question.

"Four man cell? At least." They'd set two separate traps, the fire bomb and the bath. Two men hidden in the closets, one munitions specialist to set the trap and a forth, likely the one that had adapted to the problem of Sasuke going for towels, as the leader. That was likely the team but they could easily be part of a larger organisation.

"At least." Agreed the Uchiha with a grim nod. I began to do my hair back up but Sasuke stopped me resting a hand on top of my own. The touch was a silent exchange in itself.

"I'm bodyguard then." He wanted me to alter my appearance enough to fly under radar. It made sense seeing as the only one the survivor could be certain survived was Sasuke and loath as I was to admit it they'd pay more attention to him anyway.

"I'll head by the laundry room, make it seem like I'm trying to smuggle them out that way." It was a plain plan but it would work if they were as pissed at him as I expected them to be, they'd be looking for openings to attack more than watching his behaviour for signs of deceit.

"Fine, we'll dress down a little, hit the hotel bar and act like a rich business man and his ladies of the night." I noted the couple looked less offended than I'd expected…they still appeared disgusted just less so than I'd figured. I liked that.

Feeling bold I leaned in and planted a kiss on the Uchiha's chapped lips.

"I'll use our first client's given name and our second's family name when I rent the room." I offered, it was our usual procedure to track one another down safely.

* * *

"I get the other two you know." The clients had fallen asleep in one of the room's beds and I'd stepped out for air…well not exactly air.

"Where did you even find those." Commented the Uchiha ignoring my attempts to claim the remaining two assassins as my prey. He also brushed off the cigarette box I pointed his way.

"The market two towns back had them. They're good but dealing with the post attempted assassination feelings." Very good for that. I knew Sasuke understood I just suspected he had more of a fondness for the bottle.

"I didn't catch sight of anyone who might be our hunters. They probably have a network set up, stall workers or kids maybe." He gave a shrug appearing more tired than I'd seen him in a while, four kills since he'd last slept that was probably weighing on him. It was most of the reason I'd demanded he leave the rest to me, had to share the weight as evenly as we could after all.

"We'll just lure them out. You play body guard this time and I'll stalk them, turn the hunters into prey." It was dodgy and bare bones as far as a plan went but I didn't want to think about it now.

"I don't really feel this way much but I wanna twist the knife with these assholes. I was really looking forward to that bath, a warm comfortable bed and a nice fu…um you know." I remarked with a shrug as something feral flashed in Sasuke's eyes and a grin stretched over his lips.

"You were looking forward to…you know." He asked parroting my own words and looking supremely coy.

"You're gonna make me say it huh. Fine, fucking, screwing, canoodling." I was probably blushing a little but I didn't mind that so much when we were alone. He stepped closer his brow furrowing.

"Canoodling?" Okay so maybe we never did that…where had I even heard that? I think Neji may have had the paranoid belief Hinata was up to as much and ranted to Lee and myself about it, the word canoodling had certainly come up along with other odd ones.

"You okay?" A finger under my chin gently tilted my face up to his own concerned expression. I shook my head sadly sealing the memory away, not banishing it but storing it away in the back of my mind for later.

"Fine…would it be so bad if we got a second room, just for a few hours." It wouldn't happen, for a start I didn't believe we could afford it and the Uchiha was a sticker for professionalism…so was I, just not so much as to refuse to fantasise.

* * *

I watched in a slightly sadistic enjoyment as Sasuke visible battled with his urge to order something alcoholic at the bar. The clients had set up at a table appearing…distrustful of the meals they'd received.

Even after an hour there was no sign of any potential assassins, if another hour passed we'd have to move onto plan 'b'. I thought Sasuke might be hoping for it. Plan 'b' consisted of the Uchiha getting a few drinks in him and pretending that he had a much lower tolerance, it'd hopefully entice something out of our enemies.

He wouldn't be so lucky though. A new player had entered the bar from a side entrance keeping a wide berth from both the Uchiha and our clients, his chin gave him away though as it pointed itself towards the room's mirrors tracking his targets indirectly. He was doing a good job but it was still amateurish and his walk was clumsy and heavy footed. As I drew closer I could pick out the smells that confirmed this man as the munitions man we were looking for.

Sasuke's eyes flickered to me in the dim reflection of the glass behind the bar and I knew he had clocked the man too. That was important, the man may very well have set some trap and Sasuke needed to be ready.

The Uchiha waited longer than I would have before he pushed himself off the bar and returned to the clients rounding them up. It was another drink later before the munitions expert rose from his table to leave, that was good though, if he'd bolted earlier I would have been worried he'd set something to blown the whole damn bar away.

I followed him more openly than I would have liked but without my chakra the old techniques from the academy were impossible and without them there was no other choice than to be a little obvious without a partner to switch and swap with. We entered a district comprised entirely of factories, some older than others and I began to worry about being detected as we lost the crowd entirely.

I wasn't wrong in my fears either as the man bolted not long after. I didn't even hesitate to follow, it wasn't that I was certain I wouldn't fall to any of his traps I just knew that this was the best chance I'd get and I hated being tailed by vengeful assassins. The scrawny bomber cut into one of the more dilapidated warehouses and I paused as I heard shouting, one, two voices. Only two voices and the clap of two pairs of feet echoed within. I stopped by the entrance and drew a knife in my left and a fist full of shuriken in my right aware of the stiffness in the joint.

One noise source rattled higher moving up a stair case or maybe something rougher as the other drew closer stepping carefully and lightly. I cursed the bad fortune that was allowing the munitions user to get to his stash but I couldn't afford to rush in blind.

A manikin led the charge out the door and was quickly peppered with shuriken on reflex revealing my own position. The dark figure was on me in the blink of an eye swinging wild strikes with a crude short sword. I was almost caught as a street lamp lit up my opponents face and I realised exactly why Sasuke hadn't managed to kill three yesterday.

The build, the high cheek bones, tall forehead, light hair and more than anything the ferociousness in her eyes reminded me in a moment of the Uchiha's former teammate, Sakura Haruno. But only for a moment, the illusion past quickly enough. After I noted the resemblance I made my first counter batting aside a heavy handed attack and stepping inside the smaller woman's guard. She choked and swore wetly as I forced the blade high and deep under her elbow and followed with a slash to the side of the neck. It was neatly done and quick, more than an assassin really deserved.

It was my turn to creep now as I stepped into the warehouse conscious of the creaking of floor boards above me. It was my instincts that demanded I dodge as the noise came to a pause. Working on reflex I'd opted for my right shoulder…which hurt like a bitch…but it took me out of range of the nasty firecracker that had been dropped.

A sprint, another roll and a couple of dicey moments pulling at some metal cabinets provided me with some much needed cover. The last member of the cell was panicking and hadn't stopped his assault despite the cover, actually he wasn't even really aiming at me just taking pot shots.

I could see him, in a birds next of sorts across the hall from me. There was absolutely no chance of my knives or shuriken reaching him least of all doing any damage at this range, and I didn't like my odds of waiting and trying to weather all of the man's ammo, if he had any sense he may hold something back to blow me apart once I think I'm safe. I started looking for alternatives.

There were some cots and blankets gathered in the corner to my left, not exactly useful. The right hand side was more promising though with weapons of varying uses propped up and a bow within reasonable range. I drew out the worst of my remaining shuriken, splaying my fingers in a way that would decrease my accuracy but increase the spread, hopefully that would be more likely to give the guy pause. I added a shout just before I popped over the cover.

The shuriken bounced hollowly off the warehouse walls as the man hesitated for a moment pausing in his bombing. It was long enough though and I got the weapon in hand and an arrow notched. As the munitions user popped back into view I released a shaky breath and loosed the arrow. I hadn't used a bow in a year maybe longer but my aim was still deathly at this range…more so than I'd intended it actually as the man tried to duck the shot I'd aimed at his chest and caught it instead in his throat. A little hesitantly I began to climb the stairs to the last assassin, I had to confirm the kill and if he was suffering put him out of that misery.

* * *

"It's not really fair you know." I bemoaned the Uchiha days later after we'd returned the couple to his father's estate and found a cheap hotel for that much needed rest. I felt his cool fingers trailing down my spine, memorising the curve of my hips.

"What isn't?" I had my suspicions he expected me to complain once again about this hotel lacking the hot spring treatment we'd been denied before.

"We don't take assassination jobs, then assassins come after us anyway." Killing in defence and the heat of the moment was one thing, even revenge and wrath were more justifiable. But assassination was always political, husbands who wanted their wives gone, wives that wanted their husbands gone, kids that wanted both parents gone. Malcontents, extremists or just victims of the corrupt that wanted their sins brushed under the carpet.

"It was a bad break Ten, they come and they go." He sounded awful calm about it but I suspected my next point might rock that.

"You hesitated." It wasn't an accusation, or I hadn't meant it as one anyway but I think he heard it that way. He folded at the middle sitting up and pulling away from me. I followed wrapping both arms around his stomach to keep him in the bed.

"Hey, it's alright, I understand." I offered with a soft shushing, that was how people comforted each other in books and plays so I figured it was an alright place to start.

"It's alright that I hesitated against an attacker." He bit back. He'd hesitated to gut a girl that had resembled a childhood friend- if only in passing- that wasn't so much worrying as it was highly relieving. Probably shouldn't put it quite that way though.

"You didn't hesitant to defend yourself or get to me. You stopped short of killing someone…familiar in the heat of battle and that's something to be proud of." He didn't say anything not for a long time. And then as suddenly as everything else he did he had me pinned to the sheet and his lips were claiming mine.

I still wanted that hot spring visit though and the damn lobster.

* * *

Okay and that's a new, rather long one-shot. Hope you all enjoyed.

R&R


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